Four reasons offices should consider following workers to the suburbs.
Suburban office building

Recent surveys show that consumers are looking to move out of cities, and in one report released in June, 82% of workers indicated they’d prefer to work from home at least two days per week. Here are four reasons offices should consider following workers to the suburbs.

  • Rental cost: Office space in the suburbs often rents for about 75% of the amount charged for comparable space in the local central business district. And sometimes the difference is even greater: The average cost of office space per square foot is $29.50 in downtown Chicago but $15.75 in nearby Oak Park, Ill.
  • Parking rates: Average monthly parking costs are $430 in New York, $300 in Chicago, and $220 in Los Angeles. In the suburbs, parking is often free.
  • Amenities: Suburban areas naturally offer greater space and ability for social distancing than cities, but they are increasingly offering other conveniences such as walkability, grocery delivery, restaurants, and bars and nightlife.
  • Access to workforce: Even before the pandemic, millennials and younger Generation Xers were already leaving the cities. 2018 was the fourth year in a row that cities with more than half a million people lost residents aged 25 to 39 to lower-density areas.

Sources: Back-to-Normal Barometer, CreditCards.com, Reoptimizer.com, LoopNet.com, SpotHero.com, Homebase.ai, SIOR, CNBC, The Wall Street Journal

 

 

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